The Kingdom of Victoria
The Kingdom of Victoria is an absolute monarchy that was established on May 25 in the year 3191. It is currently under the rule of Her Majesty Victorie Belle, who serves as both Queen Regent and Supreme Commander of the nation's armed forces and two sovereign territories. A landlocked nation, The Kingdom of Victoria is located in the Amanda Banus region of the Virgina Bella continent on White Giant. Having three large lakes within its borders, none of them connect in any significant way to the greater ocean to the East. Being several short miles away from the coast, the nation relies heavily upon the neighboring territory of The Principality of Victoria to access the sea. The Principality of Victoria is a semi-autonomous region belonging to the larger Kingdom of Victoria. Government The Kingdom of Victoria is an Absolute Monarchy made up of three government houses, each one designed for a different purpose in mind. The Crown The first branch of the government is known simply as "The Crown". It is the seat of the King or Queen regent and acts as the executive branch of the nation. Granted nearly unlimited powers by the nation's constitution, the most notable powers include the trumping of all House of Representative decisions, the removal of all senators from the House of Representatives to call for reelections, and the ability to declare and wage war on foreign nations. Due to the extreme power of the The Crown branch of government, it can only be succeeded through birthright or through direct House of Electorate action. The House of Representatives The second branch of government is known as "The House of Representatives". It is the seats of the regional senators that have been elected by the people. Its responsibilities include foreign trade, government finance, taxes, infrastructure, city planning, and acting as a mediator between The House of Electorate and The Crown. The House of Electorate The third branch of government is known as "The House of Electorate". It is the largest and arguably the most powerful of the three branches, being made up of all citizens of every age and background. It is the only branch that has the power to change constitutional law as well as call for re-elections that trump decisions made by both The House of Representatives and The Crown. It is also the only branch of government that is allowed to pass an election to replace the King or Queen Regent with votes of no confidence. Votes of no confidence are simple in that they decide either the keeping or removal of the Regent. Removal results in immediate execution of the former Regent and the next in the line of birthright will be their successor. There are only twelve recorded instances of votes of no confidence, but each time it has happened it was for the reason of an infant successor or to replace an elderly king far too ill to rule in times of crisis. Special leniency was extended to them and the nation proceeded normally. About The Crown The Kingdom of Victoria is currently under the rule of Her Majesty Victorie Belle, who serves as both Queen Regent and Supreme Commander of the nation's armed forces and two sovereign territories. Before she became Queen Victorie Belle was born on May 25th in the year 3175 as an only child, exactly 16 years prior to the founding of The Kingdom of Victoria. Having grown up in the bustling metropolis that was The Victoria Island Republic as a high-class citizen, she was all too aware of her family and nation's history as it practically saturated her entire childhood education. Having made numerous media appearances within the island republic starting from the age of 6, she was hailed as the future of their nation and the key to their redemption. She never did love the idea of being a princess, having been raised in a glass bubble she was never able to go out and play with the other children, let alone speak to those who were considered lower class. Her entire life was filled with luxurious opulence, something she eventually grew to hate. It wasn't until her stay at the Mainland Republic's more prestigious boarding school for girls at the age of 14 that she finally was able to enjoy life with people her age who were not also of "royal pedigree". There, she learned of the meaning of the Mainland Republic's constitution and the bloody history surrounding its formation and the reasoning involved. It did not take long for her to fall in love with the idea of equality and independence that she so craved. However, on June 20th in the year 3190, she was forced to leave behind her friends at the school and return to the island at the age of 15 due to the fragmentation of the Mainland Republic's government and resulting civil war. Following the destruction of the nation she had come to love, she was back in the spotlight. Appearing in media as a propaganda piece to promote stability and calm in The Victoria Island Republic, it did not take long for her to became increasingly vocal about her views when she steadily and consistently diverged from her pre-approved scripts. Winning the hearts of both the Island and the refugees that fled there, she pushed for liberation of the mainland. After Coronation One year later on May 25th in the year 3191, she was elected permanent absolute monarch of the newly formed Kingdom of Victoria. Carefully timed in order to coincide with her 16th birthday, approval rating for her was at 98% and the dreams of her people to finally be a sovereign nation were finally realized. However, the republic she so loved was now dead to the ages. On December 4th 3195, there was an uprising in the South-East coastal territory of the nation resulting in a brief, yet bloody conflict of mass bombings and terrorist attacks. While the Northern half of the nation was now made up of Royalist supporters, the coastal part of the nation was still largely anti-monarch and suffering from intense economic depression. Going against the recommendations made to her by the current House of Representatives to wait until a vote, Queen Victorie decided to bombard all Coastal military installations to prevent weapons from falling into separatist hands resulting in over 3000 deaths. Having managed to avoid another bloody civil war, and the nation was divided into two by order of the Queen and the Coastal region was granted special autonomy and limited restoration of the republic. While they still answer to The Kingdom of Victoria and participate in Kingdom-wide constitutional decisions, they are allowed to govern themselves. Terrorist attack continued, but In the years that followed, the nation's economy recovered and terrorist attacks ceased. It is said that she one day plans to restore the former republic, her only regret being that she caved into becoming Queen. The Queen Today The Queen lives quietly in the Royal palace located at the center of the nation's capitol. Recent media reports state that Her Majesty the Queen "Finds running a nation boring and wishes people did not need her to approve every possible decision." Her Majesty does not enjoy wearing overly fancy dresses or wearing a crown, for that matter. Always preferring the soft fabric of cotton pajamas, she only ever puts on a dress when addressing the public or during working hours when she is needed for official business. Her favorite hobbies include online gaming and kite flying, and her favorite food is pepperoni pizza with a side of salad sprinkled with crumbled blue cheese and red vinegar. History The Kingdom of Victoria is arguably one of the oldest nations still in existence, having lasted nearly a thousand years. Having a completely uninterrupted dynasty of Kings and Queens inheriting the throne through quiet succession up until the present day, the kingdom itself has seen many changes over the centuries including a complete change in location. Early Dynastic History The Kingdom of Victoria has borne witness to 71 generations of Kings and Queens. However, they were not always considered Kings or Queens, as the Kingdom itself used to be a principality subject to a much larger empire. Documents from that far back in history are sparse and unspecific, but it is generally known that the Continent of Lynx Minor was divided following a domestic dispute between the inheritance of the Empire that existed there. Due to the complicated and mundane nature of the politics at the time, The Kingdom of Victoria was simply forgotten during the initial division and ended up as an autonomous region that was excluded from paperwork. Assumed to be ruled over by "someone else" by all former states of the empire, the small territory was generally ignored in world politics and remained peacefully between the boots of giants. It was not until 2454 when the ruling patriarch Le Francis Victoire declared absolute sovereignty and began signing official documents with the prefix "King." Needless to say, no one noticed. The Industrial Age The Kingdom of Victoria was always among the smaller of nations. Having a largely rural population with an agriculturally based economy, much of its income came from exporting grain, specialty foods, and from taxing all trade traffic that used the convenient highway that connected several of the larger nations. However, all of that was to change in 2600 with the sudden industrialization of all major population centers following the discovery of massive copper deposits in the surrounding mountains. It began with mining and refining the copper for export, but it was not long after that companies built factories to produce copper-based or reliant products from bronze artwork to brass precision machinery to electronics. By 2650, there was not a single town in The Kingdom of Victoria that was not completely saturated by industrialization. While the farms were still there, they were highly modernized to meet with the new population's demands. It was around this time the nation began to undergo a slow transformation from speaking traditional Victorian (French-like) to the more modern, international friendly language of English. However, in refusal to abandon their roots, the people of The Kingdom of Victoria insist that the English they speak is, in fact, Victorian. Along with the change in language came the reversal of the royal family's name from family name last to family name first. Now all kings and queens go by the name "Victoire" or the newer version of "Victorie". Exile and The Victoria Island Republic The Kingdom of Victoria became increasingly modern with time. However, the need for an equally modern military was not overly apparent to the population due to the largely peaceful relations with the neighboring nations. The mind of the people was focused more on the issues of poverty and food quality, making military spending a neglected section of the annual budget. However, that all changed on June 5th 3102 with the detonation of a 10 megaton nuclear warhead at the center of the capitol city. Over 260,000 people were killed in the immediate blast, with over a million more dying later of radiation and thermal burns in and around makeshift hospitals near the bombsite. Not many details are known past the initial death toll, as the People's Parliament was completely destroyed along with the majority of media outlets with offices in the capitol. However, credit for the bombing was taken by a communist terrorist group calling itself the "Army of the People's Republic." They were an extremist group that came from the nation to the East following a failed coup d'etat. In less than a month following the initial bombing, a massive regional conflict consumed the surrounding nations as more nukes went off in and around the nation. The Kingdom of Victoria was swallowed up and millions of refugees fled the resulting nuclear warzone along with the royal family, who was on vacation in a neighboring nation to negotiate trade rights at the time of the first nuclear attack. Leaving their homeland behind, the people chose exile and fled to the overseas nation of "The Republic" in January 2nd, 3110; A former colony of the The Kingdom of Victoria that had elected to declare independence peacefully from their monarch rulers some 300 years prior. The Republic granted the royal family and the people asylum and renovated one of the large island military bases off-shore to house them. Limited autonomy was given to them, and an elected local government was formed per The Republic's constitution. Since there was no recognition of royalty under The Republic's constitution, the island adopted the name of "The Victoria Island Republic" and the royal family was given standard citizenship. However, the people were not willing to let go of their monarch just yet, and elected to give the royal family a special home and cut of the tax money as allowance. Seventy years passed until the year 3180 arrived and The Victoria Island Republic accumulated large wealth with the discovery of oil in the surrounding area. With a robust economy in hand, the little nation formed a formidable navy, air force, and army, determined not to let another "Army of the People's Republic" happen again. However, the same could not be said for The Mainland Republic to the West. ("The Republic" changed its name some 30 years earlier to "The Mainland Republic" in respect to "The Victoria Island Republic" to avoid paperwork confusion.) War of The Mainland Republic A civil conflict took hold of The Mainland Republic in November 7th, 3181 as the nation's government fractured into three opposing factions. The Freedom Fighters, the Liberationists, and the Patriots. Needless to say, it turned into a mess with everyone promising freedom and equality from the barrel of a gun. In a matter of weeks, the Mainland Republic was destroyed and refugees began flooding out in all directions to escape the conflict. The Victoria Island Republic, having built its own robust military force and with a population still loyal to the royal family, remained stable all throughout the conflict and received the majority of fleeing refugees. It was less than a year after they began receiving refugees that the island's population was more refugee than island citizen. By the same time next year on November 7th, 3182, everyone recognized that the The Mainland Republic was now completely gone. What was left of the land was consumed by warfare, none of the original factions resembling the beautiful propaganda they pushed forth, each one showing its true colors as a neo-communists, fascists, or some other form of controlling autocracy. It was then that The Victoria Island Republic decided to take action. A election was pushed forth to declare war on all factions and return order to the mainland. Being the last legitimate government established by The Mainland Republic, there was no trouble getting votes as millions volunteered for military service. With modern equipment and fresh supplies, The Victoria Island Republic's forces saw little resistance as they steamrolled the now exhausted factions that opposed them inland all the way to the capitol city of Charlotte. Formation of The Kingdom of Victoria The Kingdom of Victoria as it is known now was established on May 25th in the year 3191 following the conquering of the entire former republic territory. An election was held to rewrite the constitution, and the people chose to restore the former monarchy that they had lost nearly 100 years earlier. The granddaughter to the previous king and direct descendant was made head of state as a figurehead to anchor the formation of the people's official representational government. Things went well for the nation as Her Majesty Victorie Belle took the lead in rebuilding the nation's cities, towns, and farmland. However, on December 4th 3195, there was an uprising in the South-East coastal territory of the nation resulting in a brief, yet bloody conflict of mass bombings and terrorist attacks. While the Northern half of the nation was now made up of Royalist supporters, the coastal part of the nation was still largely anti-monarch and suffering from intense economic depression following the war. However, the population was tired and did not want another civil war. Massive public outcry from all corners of the nation could be heard, wanting immediate action to prevent the fringe group from taking control and attempting another coup. The Queen saw that the people's vote was moving slowly and knew what the outcome would be regardless. Deciding not to wait, she bypassed the established people's government and ordered an immediate bombardment of all coastal military installations to prevent weapons from falling into separatist hand. This resulted in over 3000 deaths, but managed to cripple any large-scale resistance from the separatists who fragmented and disappeared. While it was against constitutional law, the people were largely supportive of the quick action and no action was taken against the Queen. Having managed to avoid another bloody civil war, and the nation was divided into two by order of the Queen and the Coastal region was granted special autonomy under the title of "The Principality of Victoria" and limited restoration of their former republic's laws and structure. While they still answer to The Kingdom of Victoria and participate in Kingdom-wide constitutional decisions, they are allowed to govern themselves. Terrorist attack continued, but In the years that followed, the nation's economy recovered and terrorist attacks ceased. The Kingdom of Victoria Today Over time The Kingdom of Victoria changed the constitution to expand the Queen's powers and return to the previous form of government that had served them so well in the past. However, Her Majesty Victorie Belle is largely uninterested in the details of running a nation, leaving all of the economic and domestic policy decisions to that of the people's representatives. While technically she is an absolute monarch, she certainly does not act like one. The Principality of Victoria is now considered completely autonomous, and talks of becoming completely sovereign is not uncommon. However, recent polls imply that most citizens in The Principality care more about stability as opposed to sovereignty. Economy and Industry While efforts to redevelop the economy of the nation was largely successful, it is still significantly different from what it was prior to the fall of The Mainland Republic. The Kingdom of Victoria currently focuses on the mining of natural resources as well as providing low level industrial products. The service sector also makes up a large portion of the nation's economy, providing raw manpower where technology is lacking. Progress to develop high level industries in technology and machinery is still lagging behind, due to none of the old factories having survived the war and there being little incentive for rebuilding the infrastructure necessary to remake them. In spite of the difficulties and changes, The Kingdom of Victoria's economy is thriving and the people are forging onward as the old scars heal. Oil Industry Currently the Northern half of the nation has proven most successful with oil fields North of the capitol city making up 98% of all national production. Experts think that there may be oil beneath the majority of the nation, and that oil production will remain lucrative for 300 more years before reaching its peak. As of today oil drilling makes up nearly 10% of the national GDP. The oil industry in The Kingdom of Victoria is among the largest and most lucrative sectors of the economy. With exports making up the majority of business, exploratory drilling is constantly taking place and plans to expand production are always in motion. However, most expansion of this sector of the economy is being kept on hold until the supply of workers increases. Efforts have been made by schools to increase interest in the next generation of workers in oil production, but it will be a decade or two before any visible results take hold, as the next generation is still quite young. However, companies remain optimistic and have already begun preparing sites for large-scale drilling and exploitation for when the next generation enters the workforce. Coal Industry Making up around 5% of the national GDP, the coal mining industry in The Principality of Victoria is the second largest in the production sector of the economy. With exports making up the majority of business, it is also the main energy supplier for the nation's budding steel factory. Currently, the border between The Kingdom and Principality is lined with coal mines. Experts say that there is at least 1000 years of coal to be mined before supplies run low, but that estimate is constantly increasing with the discovery of a new vein every month. Efforts in the Principality of Victoria have been made to expand the mining of coal. Attempts to increase efficiency through the use of larger machines with fewer workers have been made, but was met with only limited success. With the lack of technical expertise and infrastructure present to build and maintain them on a large scale, and with most of the workforce having left during the previous civil war, expansion has stalled and is even in threat of decline. However, with the population rapidly returning, it is estimated that conditions will improve within the next decade. Culture and Traditions Schoolgirl Tank Corps Following the economic recovery of the nation after the civil war, the majority of the standing land forces was deactivated with 95% of the entire tank fleet getting placed into storage and fell under threat of neglect. In order to preserve the military hardware, a series of military-based programs for students was formed where they were taught how to run and maintain military vehicles. Extra credits were offered to those who wished to pursue a future in the military, business management, engineering, or other loosely related industries. To promote home defense and self-reliance in the face of hardship and strife, tank driving classes are offered in all High Schools, Colleges, and Universities within The Kingdom of Victoria. Oddly enough, girls made up the majority of applicants. No one is sure exactly why, but it is implied that the posters showing attractive women in uniform sitting on a tank designed to lure boys may have had the opposite effect. Public support of the program was low, but in the five years that followed the initial introduction of the tank program, things changed when it was discovered that those that participated showed an increased grade average as well as a highly competitive spirit and robust ability to work as part of a team. Public support grew and 24 all-girl tanking teams were organized in a highly successful national tournament that was hosted on one of the old tank training grounds. Now up for consideration to replace the current national sport of croquet, Schoolgirl Tanks Corps are increasing in popularity. Croquet An enjoyable spring-time activity enjoyed during picnics, no one is sure how croquet became the national sport. Every year the National Croquet Association organizes the largest (and only) croquet tournament in existence. Notes I wrote what I could, but might need some help making it less messy. Would appreciate meaningful editions. Thanks Category:Countries Category:White Giant